


Bop to the Top

by Carmenlire



Series: Flufftober [21]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood can dance, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Kid Fic, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Slow Dancing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 18:00:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20855930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire
Summary: Their daughter looks over at Magnus and her expression turns into a pout. “I want to dance but I don’t know how.”Magnus looks over at Alec and raises his brows. Alec shrugs and crouches down until he’s more at eye level with their four year old.Laughing a little, Alec takes her hands, notes for the thousandth time just how tiny she is compared to him. “Okay, okay, hold your horses. I’ll teach you how to dance.”





	Bop to the Top

**Author's Note:**

> Flufftober day 1: Dancing

The reception hall echoes with the sound of the hundred guests having a wonderful time. 

Alec sweeps a hand down his husband’s back, pulls him closer as they dance to a slow song. He feels Magnus lay a kiss over his jaw and hums a little, more than content as they enjoy their corner of the dance floor.

They’re barely moving, just swaying in place really, and Alec blames the champagne for how light he feels-- well, that and the warmth radiating from Magnus.

“What’s in that head of yours, Mr. Lightwood-Bane?”

Laughing softly, Alec’s noses along Magnus’s hair before replying, “I’m thinking that it’s about time that Luke made an honest woman of my mother.” His voice lowers as does his hand, until it’s grazing Magnus ass. “And that I can’t wait to get you out of this fucking suit.”

“Alexander,” his husband murmurs and it’s equal parts fond and exasperated. “We’re in public, darling.”

“So?”

He hears the quick intake of Magnus’s breath as nibbles on an earlobe, starts kissing a path down his husband’s neck. His progress is quickly halted, though, as Magnus pulls back enough to level him with an long suffering stare.

“So, darling husband of mine, I’m sure you don’t want to do anything you’ll regret in the morning-- especially when it’s in front of your mother and the rest of your family.”

Alec just blinks at him, lost for words. Magnus’s argument is sound but damn if he isn’t getting increasingly impatient at waiting to rip the damn suit off his husband-- something that Magnus, the bastard, knew the moment he put it on, as he'd watched Alec watch him through the mirror as he slowly, tortuously, buttoned his shirt earlier in the evening.

“Here’s a deal for you,” Magnus whispers and it catches in the space between their lips as he draws a hand over the slope of Alec’s shoulders, traces the outline of the deflect rune even as they keep up with the meandering pace of the music. “Calliope is staying the night with Raphael and Simon and that leaves us all alone in a hotel room for the first time in, oh, three years. If you can wait just a little longer, I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Feeling unaccountably warm at Magnus’s drawling voice, Alec clears his throat before arching a brow. “And how do I know you’re a man of your word, Mr. Lightwood-Bane?”

Magnus grins and it’s sharp enough to make Alec dizzy. “Oh, I’m sure you have your ways to keep me in line, Mr. Lightwood-Bane.”

Alec’s just set to say fuck it and drag Magnus up to their suite when he hears a voice that he’d know anywhere call out, “Daddy! Papa!”

Taking a measured breath, Alec and Magnus take a hasty step away from each other and Alec looks down just in time to see a little body launch itself at his legs. Calliope wraps her arms around his knees, hugging tightly, and grins up at him.

Grinning back at her, Alec reaches down, pulling one of her curls down before releasing it so that it springs back up. He does it mostly because his daughter has inherited his husband’s flair for dramatics and her annoyed nose scrunch is cute as hell.

“What’s up, sweetheart?” 

Their daughter looks over at Magnus and her expression turns into a pout. “I want to dance but I don’t know how.”

Magnus looks over at Alec and raises his brows. Alec shrugs and crouches down until he’s more at eye level with their four year old.

“You want to dance to this,” Alec asks dubiously, considering a waltz is playing.

Nodding vehemently, Calliope reaches for his hands. “Show me how, daddy! Please,” she implores, dragging the word out until it’s at least half a dozen syllables.

Laughing, Alec takes her hands, notes for the thousandth time just how tiny she is compared to him. “Okay, okay, hold your horses. I’ll teach you how to dance.”

He looks up as Magnus slides a hand over his back and they share an amused glance before Magnus leans down and pinches her cheek. “Break a leg, dear.”

Alec huffs out a laugh, shaking his head as Magnus starts toward their table but not before throwing a wink over his shoulder. He finds his gaze dropping down to watch Magnus’s ass as he walks away but Calliope pulls on his arms just a few seconds later, demanding all of his attention.

“Alright, let’s dance,” Alec says and his kid’s enthusiasm is contagious. The music isn’t quite as slow as it was a few minutes ago but it’s still something sedated.

They start by moving side to side and gradually Alec starts adding a bit of a turn. Calliope is an athletic child but she trips over his shoes a dozen times and starts looking more and more frustrated.

The dance floor is mostly full and as Alec guides them, he keeps a lookout for any errant adults who might not notice a small child next to them. While the dancing is anything but smooth, Alec doesn’t think they’re doing that badly when Calliope suddenly pulls away from him and bursts into tears, covering her face with her hands.

Alec’s heart turns over-- he never could stand to see his daughter cry-- but he’s confused as hell.

Crouching down, Alec reaches out until he can cover Calliope’s arms with tentative hands. “Honey? What’s wrong?”

Calliope doesn’t say anything for a long moment and Alec moves one hand until it can sweep over her back in a comforting motion. When she finally speaks, though, her voice is too muffled for him to catch a blasted word.

“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you, sweetheart.”

Lowering her hands until her face is visible, Calliope crosses her arms and looks at Alec mutinously. She’s cute as a button even if there are tear tracks down her cheeks.

“I said that I’m not a good dancer and if I’m not a good dancer than I won’t ever be able to dance with anyone.”

Alec frowns at the explanation. It doesn’t make sense to him but hell if he hasn’t become adept at solving problems he doesn’t understand since Izzy was old enough to talk. As he studies his kid, Alec can't help but think back to the dance lessons he took when he was her age. His instructor had been harsh but still no match for Maryse all those years ago. Perfection had been demanded and Alec can still feel the echo of his punishment when he stumbled, when he grew off beat.

He never wants his daughter to feel that weight of expectation. The truth is, no matter what kind of dancer Calliope is, Alec will always be honored to dance with her-- not to mention that he's learned a lesson from Magnus that the Institute never could've taught him.

Sometimes it's better to have fun and enjoy yourself than to be perfect.

Pulling her closer, Alec wraps his daughter in a hug, relieved when she doesn’t pull away. “You aren’t a bad dancer, Calliope-- you’ve just never done this before and it takes practice to get good at something. Plus, if someone doesn’t want to dance with you, that’s their loss-- you can always dance with your me or your papa even if you do have two left feet.”

Calliope looks down, frowning. “I don’t have two left feet, daddy. I have a left and a right just like you taught me.”

Biting his lip to keep his laughter in, Alec replies, “It’s just a saying, honey. Having two left feet means that someone isn’t a very good dancer-- which is not true for you,” he hastily adds.

Calliope doesn’t look convinced and Alec has two seconds to think of a solution before his daughter has another crisis. Thinking fast, Alec nudges her to look up, which she does with watery eyes.

“Why don’t we dance with you standing on my feet? That way I can show you the moves and neither one of us has to worry about running into the other.”

Alec’s rather proud of himself for that solution but Cally doesn’t look so sure. “I’m a big girl, daddy! I can’t stand on your feet.”

Heart surging, Alec looks down at his kid who doesn’t even come up to his waist and feels something shift in him because he can already feel time sifting through his fingers faster than he’d like and he knows that, far sooner than he’s ready, Calliope’s words will be true.

Still. He rolls his eyes, poking her gently in the stomach just to hear her giggle before sternly saying, “Nonsense. You’ll never be too old to dance with me.”

It takes a little more convincing but Alec guides Calliope until she has one foot over each of his shoes and he starts dancing along to the music. Now that he’s not worried about stepping on his daughter, Alec lets loose a little and they keep easy time as they take a turn around the room. His back is starting to ache from being so hunched over but Alec knows he'd spend an eternity just like this if only to make his daughter happy.

Calliope holds his hands with all her might and Alec makes sure they don’t stumble as they follow the beat of the music. His daughter laughs, enjoys the spinning around, and Alec finds himself echoing that laughter and feeling lighter than he ever thought imaginable.

He’s mid laugh when he looks up and the breath is knocked from him.

Because there’s his husband meeting his eyes from across the room. Magnus is watching the two of them and his expression is far too soft for everyone to see. Alec easily deciphers his gaze because he feels the same riot of emotions when he wakes up to see Calliope helping Magnus with breakfast or watching as Magnus reads their child a story from the rocking chair they’d bought the week before the adoption became official.

It’s something he never understood, not even when he sometimes felt less like a brother and more like a parent to his siblings.

There’s something that just squeezes his chest when he thinks of the family he’s made with Magnus and Calliope. He sees that same love and devotion and wonder in Magnus’s eyes and they share a look filled with everything they can’t find the words for before Calliope is pulling on his hands again and hopping off his feet.

“Thanks, dad,” she says happily before taking a step back. “I know how to dance now!”

She runs through the dance floor a second later and Alec’s left standing in the middle of things as he watches his little bundle of chaos miraculously avoid all the tipsy couples on the dance floor.

Shaking his head, Alec makes his way back to Magnus, who’s enjoying a piece of wedding cake.

“What was that about,” he asks, amused and Alec makes a noncommittal noise before leaning in and taking the bite off Magnus’s fork before his husband can react.

“Who the hell knows,” Alec laughs and they spend the next little while people watching and enjoying their cake.

They’re getting ready to let Simon and Raphael know that they’re heading upstairs when Magnus starts laughing, leaning in until he’s hiding his smile against Alec’s sleeve.

“I think I know why our dear daughter wanted to learn how to dance.”

Alec looks up and it takes him a moment but then he’s grinning at the dance floor. He relaxes back in his chair, pulling Magnus close with an arm over his shoulders. “She takes back after you, you know.”

“Oh please, Alexander. I would never be so obvious about my crush.”

Alec scoffs and when he sees his daughter echo a move that Magnus uses to this day, his husband doesn’t give him a chance to reply before he’s grumbling, “Okay, maybe she has been watching me.”

“How to woo the object of your affections 101. She’s a natural,” Alec laughs.

He hears Magnus sigh but doesn’t take his eyes off his daughter, who’s dancing with Maia, looking up at the Alpha leader with shining eyes. Calliope’s always had a bit of hero worship for the woman but now Alec wonders if maybe his daughter didn’t have the tiniest crush on Maia, too. 

She’s still a little wobbly but her dancing is much better than it was at the start of the evening. 

They watch as Calliope kisses Maia’s hand in a move that Magnus still treats Alec to every time they dance and Maia takes it with good grace, biting back her laughter, and gently guides them around the room.

It’s adorable, Alec thinks and he imprints this moment in his mind, one of a thousand memories he’s accumulated over the years that bring him unimaginable joy.

He’s lost in his thoughts as he watches his daughter dance but he’s shaken out of his reverie when Magnus nudges his arm.

Looking over, it takes everything Alec has not to kiss that coy look off his husband’s face.

“Why don’t you join me on the dance floor one more time before we call it a night, darling? And then I’ll let you have your wicked way with me until morning,” Magnus murmurs and it’s not strange, after all this time, for Alec to feel a dizzying mix of joy and lust and overwhelming love for the man in front of him.

Instead of answering immediately, Alec stands and holds out a hand to Magnus. “Only if you let me lead,” he says with a cocky look.

Magnus laughs out loud, sliding his hand into Alec’s as he stands and starts guiding Alec back towards the other couples. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, darling.”

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on tumblr or twitter @carmenlire!


End file.
